Look, I know what you’re thinking, and I’m thinking it too: Why in the world am I reviewing some cheesy, January-release horror movie with so many gems (“Silence,” “La La Land,” “Patersonm”) left un-critiqued? Well, there’s actually a few different answers to this. One is that it does grow a bit tiresome watching and reviewing the industry’s most serious and acclimated films, since sometimes some stupid, unpretentious fun is what we want. And on top of that, I found “The Bye Bye Man,” (with an unimpressive rating of 27 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) to be quite enjoyable. And while I never review the horror movies that I see since they’re all so god-awful, I do believe this one is worth my time AND yours.
Conventionally speaking, this movie could fall in line with several other horror movies (“Candyman,” “The Ring,” etc.) and has some familiar characters and plot lines to scoff at. We meet three college students, Elliot (Douglas Smith), his lover, Sasha (Cressida Bonas), and his best friend, John (Lucien Laviscount), in their new house, which will clearly be the foregrounds for some spooky stuff. This is soon confirmed by the token psychic friend, Kim (Jenna Kanell), who ends up revealing the unwanted character after a séance. This sighting triggers more vivid and terrifying visions for Elliot and his friends, tricking them not only into believing in the Bye Bye Man, but doing some unfavorable things because of it.
Another thread is introduced, one of infidelity, between Sasha and John, and though subplots in poorly-rated horror movies are probably the lowest of lows when it comes to intriguing content, I felt both interested and connected to the main characters, at least more so than in other horror movies. The chemistry between them actually seems authentic, and given that this is just an addition to the actual problem at hand, I found an unusual amount of depth in this movie.
As the film progresses, the title character makes his presence much more pronounced (now with a ravenous dog-like beast that devours your face after you’ve been killed off). And let me just interrupt myself, because I know how stupid that sounds, and yes, I totally agree with you that this “dog” is probably the dumbest thing in this movie, practically laughable. But we’re just going to pretend that it doesn’t exist because A) it’s hardly in the movie and B) everything else is pretty good like I said. Possessing all who think or say his treacherous name, more are plagued by the Bye Bye Man’s dark powers, leading them to murder, suicide and mania. Thematically, some pretty scary stuff happens, even unpredictable at times, and it’s not oversaturated with cheap jump scares, thankfully. Further exposition reveals some intense and unexpected twists, adding to the credibility of this stupid movie—gosh, I hate admitting I liked this so much! But really, it’s not bad. at least not “27 percent” bad…
And the last reason I chose to review this, rather than something more respected and well-received, is because, as much as I enjoy those films, I ALSO enjoy the cheap, silly fun that horror movies provide. After all, we go to movies to entertain ourselves. Above all else, “The Bye Bye Man” is good for at LEAST that.
I give “The Bye Bye Man” a 7.5/10.
